It’s Shark Week and a hopefully you are watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, learning about one of the most misunderstood and abused sea creatures in our oceans. While sharks may inspire fear and or awe in many.. they are crucial to the health of the oceans. They like polar bears are at the top of the food chain, keeping the marine ecosystem in sync and in health.
Unfortunately Shark Populations are declining due to the worse predator in the world.. humans. We humans have overfished, killed and abused sharks over the years. To top it off, the demand for Shark is increasing to the point that some species of sharks have declined by as much as 90% many are protected and endangered. Worse yet.. we humans have no clue on the importance of sharks to not only our health but the health of the ocean,
This is not just about Shark Finning. Like Fish and Chips? You may be eating shark there as well. If you are eating rock cod, skate, raja fish, imitation scallops, spiny or piked dogfish, rock salmon, spurdog or huss, you could be eating Shark. Did you know that a single bowl of Shark Fin soup can sell for $100?
With estimated of 100 Million Sharks killed every year, whether for Shark Finning, as bycatch, caught in fishing gear, caught in ghost gear or just over-fishing it is a number that is so large, that it is unlikely that sharks cannot recover.
I Just Have To Eco You
- 400 species of sharks
- 100 species of sharks are on the International Union for Conservations of Nature (IUCN) list of endangered species “many of these shark species are so overexploited that even their long-term survival can no longer be guaranteed.”
- 100 Million Sharks killed every year.
- 30% more sharks killed that they can reproduce.
- 2000-2011: USA imported an average of 36 tons of shark fins ($1.3 million) each year
2012: USA imported 44 tons of shark fins. ($2.5 million) - $221 Million is attributed to shark tourism with 3,700 jobs in 2016.
- $314 million on shark ecotourism every year, and researchers expect that to double to $780 million in 20 years.” (Oceana)
- $1.6 Million is the lifetime worth of one shark, v.s. the $200 a dead shark can sell for.
- Sharks kill 5 people per year.
In fact, scientists have stated that if shark killing continues the majority of the ocean will be occupied by little more than a combination of jellyfish and plastic waste.
Not only is it sad, that humans continue to support and abuse sharks, it is sad, that governments do not regulate or track a significant inhabitat of our oceans. Happy Shark Week and if you go to the beach.. thank the Ocean- Mother Earth for giving us sharks.
Resources
- The Conversation: How Overfishing and Shark finning are leading to climate change
- List of Threatened Sharks
- Six South American shark-family species that have been overfished are now listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced.
- Shark Fin Trade: Why it Should be Banned in the United States
- 41 Shark Finning Statistics
- Species composition of the international shark fin trade assessed through a retail‐market survey in Hong Kong
- List of Restaurants Offering Shark Fin Soup
- SharkSavers
- Support Our Sharks
- Shark Advocates International.
- Stop Shark Finning website.
- Bite Back